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WEST MIFFLIN (KDKA) – What was supposed to be a fun, relaxing trip to Ocean City, Md. ended in tragedy for a West Mifflin family.

He was a father of three, a husband, an older brother, but in general, 54-year-old Ken Guidish was a family man.

“We grew up with laughter and enjoying life and each other and family was so important,” Guidish’s sister, Lori Marecic, said.

That family is now devastated by what can only be described as a freak accident.

On Tuesday, Guidish was with his wife and 15-year-old daughter in Maryland.

He was in the water, only waist-deep, when a powerful wave knocked him over and he never got back up.

“I guess when the wave hit him, he must have hit his head in the ocean because he had two fractured vertebrae,” Marecic, said.

Lifeguards pulled him out of the ocean and he was flown to a hospital in Baltimore.

Marecic rushed there to say goodbye to her older brother along with other family members.

“We just sat in there with him, just told him how much he meant to us,” Marecic, said.

Ken and his wife, Dee would have celebrated their 28th wedding anniversary in October. This was their first vacation in two decades.

Now, back home in West Mifflin, Dee is surrounded by the love and support of friends and many are still in shock.

“I’m still just numb, I’m speechless, I just don’t know what I’m going to do without my brother. It’s just so unfair to his wife. They were best friends, they were supposed to grow old together,” Marecic, said.

Although he’s gone, the memories and stories about Ken will live on forever.

He was the ultimate prankster and loved fishing and hunting. He served in the Navy and worked as a welder for years.